Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“I’m sorry, this soup is below the mark, you’ve been disqualified,” Chong Daqing swallowed the whole pot of soup, considered it for a minute and announced it slowly with difficulty.
Everyone was shocked, there were only nine official contestants and one had been disqualified just like that?
It was not an easy feat to be able to enter this square. It was difficult even to become a finalist as there were many who had entered this realm.
In order to qualify for this, one would need to obtain nine ingredients that fitted the criteria.
After a series of contention, negotiating and trading, there were only nine contestants left.
It was only the first pot of soup and one was disqualified.
“Mistress Insect God, please show mercy!” The middle-aged woman who initially had hope now turned pale.
Her whole family was reliant on whoever was supporting them. If she was not even able to get through the first round, it was not hard to imagine her being demoted into a common chef when she returned. She would lose her advantage of multiple resources.
She might not be given a death sentence but to someone who was used to a frivolous lifestyle, she would be as good as dead the moment she hits rock bottom. If not, there would not be so many who had chosen to end their lives when in a similar situation.
Chong Daqing shook her head and said, “The taste of your soup is still commendable but there are no feelings in it, which is why I can’t let you pass.”
Those who heard its words were shocked.
What did it mean by having feelings even when making soup?
This profound notion of feelings in the food was often seen in movies and books, but to actually materializing it in real life was a matter of subjective opinion.
Unless it was a meal made by your family, otherwise, how would a random person’s cooking create feelings in whoever was having the meal?
This sounded like a bluff.
The middle-aged woman was astounded at the words. She wanted to defend her cooking but did not know where to start.
“Sigh, auntie, please go back and train for a few more years. You might be able to do it then,” Chong Daqing could not bear to say the words.
This was all because of that Great Azure Dragon, otherwise, she could have scraped through.
It glared at Vigilante A, who was some distance away.
The middle-aged woman and others naturally understood this, but no one dared to complain to Vigilante A. After all, he was a true dragon from the heavens.
The Upper Realm gods might be a thing of illusion to them, but this god was someone that they see every day.
The saying goes that there is nothing like a man on the spot to smooth the way. It was to an extent, a mirror of what was happening.
If one failed the test, all they needed was to get told off or disciplined. However, if one offended Sir Dragon God for no good reason, they might need to hand over their entire family to appease his rage.
This made everyone start to worry. Many of them poured their soup away and started all over again.
Fang Ning was the most relaxed one as he had not even started cooking.
Previously, Chong Daqing had mentioned that among the ten judges, it was the most special one as it could taste if there were feelings in the food.
As the one who came up with the test had met with this situation, it was, of course, quick to provide an answer.
As it turned out, the first test was to create a soup with feelings.
He secretly sent a message to Sir System telepathically, “Quickly help me inquire if the strategy for the black pot has been made? Even if it’s a simple one, it would be okay. The important thing is to pass the first test. You won’t reject me about this, would you?”
“It’s okay to pass the message,” Sir System was not too heartless, after all, if it did go to the extreme, there was a chance the host might suddenly come up with something unpredictable.
“Here, for you,” not long after, Sir System passed some contents telepathically to Fang Ning.
Fang Ning was flabbergasted after hearing it.
“This actually works? This Culinary God is not a good person,” Fang Ning said in bewilderment.
“Anyway, he was the one who said this would definitely work,” Sir System was adamant.
“Okay, I’ll just do what he says.”
Fang Ning lowered his head and concentrated on making the soup. It was not long when a tempting aroma started spreading to the entire square.
Those who smelt it nodded. This was, after all, the legendary God Chef. He was indeed extraordinary with his work.
Everyone else paused. The first test had no time limitations, but of course, it would not be a good thing to take too long.
After the first failure, everyone naturally wanted to know if God Chef Fang was able to pass the test. Although they would not be able to copy his work, they could at least witness the judges’ reaction.
After more than an hour, a pot of freshly made soup was done. Fang Ning’s final action was to add in some seasoning that was colored red.
Everyone did not really understand that move. They tried their best to sniff it out. A highly brilliant chef would be able to get a lot of information from the flavor of a dish.
Unfortunately, the aroma was still just an aroma to them.
Fang Ning personally served the dish to the tall stage for Chong Daqing to judge.
The nine god-level culinary tools gave their judgment of his soup being of high-end quality.
No one was surprised, it was a reasonable judgment based on just his reputation.
The crux of it all was if he could pass the judgment from the insect.
Chong Daqing’s turned her eyes around, it tried its best to smell it and nodded as it said, “This is really fragrant, but I wonder if this could have been made with feelings.”
“Don’t worry, it will definitely make you have feelings,” Fang Ning said straight-faced.
“That will be good,” Chong Daqing took a gulp without saying another word.
The next moment had everyone stunned.
Chong Daqing paused momentarily and turned from green to red, then from red to purple and later from purple back to green.
Some could almost see wisps of green smoke emanating from its insect brain…
“Sob sob sob, it’s too spicy!” Chong Daqing could not hold back its tears and jump three meters high. It ran straight towards the river on the grassland.
Everyone was stunned, was this allowed?
Did it just cry because of the spiciness?
Fang Ning was unable to help much and shrugged. This was never his intention, all he wanted was to pass the test and this was what he had to do…
This judge had made an escape because of the spiciness, how should the competition continue?
As everyone was thinking about this, they heard a loud ‘gulp”gulp’ noise coming from afar, like a huge beast was drinking water.
Needless to say, it was that Insect God.
Everyone started to panic. No matter what, it was still a mythical creature. If it decided to lose its temper, they would not be able to handle it!
Someone remembered a video that had trended a long time ago. This great green insect had attracted the attention of many powerhouses when it first descended.
Someone could not help but criticize, “My dear God Chef Fang, even if you wanted to have a surprise move, you can’t really dupe the judge like this, can you? It’s not a common person.”
Fang Ning shook his head and pointed towards Vigilante A.
The person who complained immediately shut his move. Yes, the insect might not be a common person but the person supporting God Chef Fang was someone far from common.
After a moment, the great green insect flew back.
“How was my Spicy Pepper Soup? Was it a meal with feelings?”
Chong Daqing eyes filled with rage but later started to cry as it said, “Fang the Cook, you are terrible. You’ve learned to do bad things! I may not want to admit this, but it was definitely a meal with feelings. It actually reminded me of dear old dad beating me, I’m going to cry again… You’ve passed the first test, now go and take a rest. We’ll move on to the second test after I’ve judged everyone else. The starting time for the second test would be three days later at most.”
Was this an ingenuine method?
The remaining seven chefs suddenly looked at each other. They have found the trick for passing the test.
It might not be wise to directly copy it. They might not be capable enough to recreate such formidable spiciness. This was, after all, no ordinary insect.
They had three days to figure out other ways to create a meal to evoke feelings within this little insect.
“The first test is finally over,” Fang Ning left the location and rested on a chair.
“Looks like the good old Culinary God was really old friends with the great green insect. It was the right prescription for it, he did not lie to us,” Sir System said in satisfaction.
“Sigh, who knows how many tests there are after the first test. The remaining test will only be more troublesome. Are you really going to do nothing to help me and let me go towards my deathbed?” Fang Ning laid back on the chair and sighed.
“You’re not that far from dying anyway. Wait, I have a feeling that something around is spying on us,” Sir System was gloating at first but suddenly changed the topic.
“Even this peaceful setting has problems?” Fang Ning was worried about the upcoming test, but the idea struck him at those words.
“Just listen to yourself, it’s not one of those games you are playing. There would be no such thing as a peaceful setting. Let’s go out and take a look. You have two more days anyway,” Sir System said.
Vigilante A then got up and walked towards the square and started his inspection of the area.
Everyone was envious but not jealous. This was because there was such a huge gap between them. No matter hard-core strength or soft skills, God Chef Fang surpassed them by a huge amount.
The dark shadow hid at a dark corner and was shocked at seeing Vigilante A inspecting the area.
Did Vigilante A detect his presence?
This incarnation of him had no real power. All his strength and power had to be maintained for the survival of his true body.
Could it be that the soul of the Culinary God was in the hands of Vigilante A?
His expression changed at the thought of this possibility.
